Title: Shopping
Part: 1/1
Rating: Gen/PG
Pairing(s): Sokka/Suki, Toph + Sokka
Summary: In which there is worrying and Awesome Stuff.
Warning: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10, Day of Black Sun. Approach with extreme caution, wash your hands before using.

"Hey look, a stuff shop!" Sokka said, making an instant detour from the clothing and supply store he'd been heading to previously.

"Oh goody," Toph muttered from his side and continued in a louder voice, "Don't we have more important things to do right now than indulge your shopping addiction?"

He gave her a wounded look. She couldn't see it, of course, but he liked to believe that the feelings behind his expressions could transcend the boundaries of sight and allow her to be moved by his plight. He also liked to believe that his plight was something she could be moved by.

"But we need stuff!" he protested, "We are suffering from an extraordinary lack of stuff at the moment."

This was mostly true. The logistics of supplying for seven people – okay, okay, eight people as of a few days ago when a certain Fire Nation jerk dropped in on them out of nowhere in an air balloon and just about stopped everyone's heart – was turning out to be much more complex than providing for four. It didn't help that they had to replace all the equipment that got left behind during the escape, not the least of which was a better mode of transportation for Teo.

But it was even more true that most of the stuff they needed wouldn't be found in a cluttered little novelty shop specializing in nick-knacks, rare herbs, cooking pots, decorative wall hangings, and a really kickass looking set of antique armor.

"Sure you aren't just hankering to get a new purse?" Toph said scornfully, but when he stepped up onto the wooden walk way bordering the shops, she came with him; her small rough hand grabbing his arm for guidance.

The shop smelled strongly of dust and old spices, the combined odor crawling up Sokka's nose and threatening to tease a sneeze out of it. He manfully sniffed back the urge and took in the interior with wide, sparkling eyes. It was filled ceiling to floor and wall to wall with pretty much everything you could ever want in your life and some of it
– he told himself very convincingly – might even be useful for them.

He'd prodded at a stack of scrolls; thumbed through a pile of blankets that turned out to be too costly for their budget; considered several different pots before deciding to leave that choice up to the members of their group that could cook; left longing fingers prints on a glass case of knives; and was just about to draw Toph's attention to a basket of interesting rock and crystal formations, when a collection of fans caught his eye.

There was at least a dozen of them in an antique bowl wedged in between a box of hair ornaments and the large figurine of a fat goat-pug. Sokka picked up a yellow one and snapped it open, pleased to find panels of gold colored silk that shimmered even in the dim light of the shop. A delicate pattern of blooming tree branches against a rising sun was woven into the silk.

"Suki has a fan like this, only not as fancy," he said in excited remembrance, "I wonder if she'd like --- "

The words choked in his suddenly tight throat, the memory of Suki's last known whereabouts catching up with his sudden urge of gift giving. He usually made a point of not thinking much about Suki, especially not around others; it was too distracting from the other things that needed his attention.

He forced out whatever words came to the top of his head before Toph could notice his stumble. "---nah, she's too practical for that. And it costs too much. We don't have a lot of money. Oh look, chopstick holders!" He dropped the fan back into its bowl and lunged for the potential distraction, dragging Toph after him.

"At long last," she cried, her eyes going wide behind their shield of hair, "We can hold a proper dinner party!"

Sokka winced and put the handful of little blue and pink fish-shaped tableware back where they belonged.

"We could do with some culture around here," he said with all the dignity he could muster. On cue, Toph rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and wiped it off on her pants.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, shifting from one foot to the other impatiently, "Are we done yet?"

He gave one more wistful look around the Shop of Awesome and sighed.

"Yeah, we're done. C'mon." He guiltily avoided the pathetically hopeful gaze of the shop's owner and led Toph back out onto the sidewalk and into the street from there. She let go of him as soon as they were on dirt again, but didn't drift too far from his side. He dug the list the group had compiled before leaving the temple out of his bag and scanned through it, as if he hadn't already memorized the contents twice over.

"She's really tough, you know."

Sokka looked over at the quiet statement. Toph had her head turned down so that her face was hidden by long bangs and her sightless gaze was directed at the road.

"Huh?"

"Suki," she clarified without the 'what kind of idiot are you?' tone that would have normally accompanied such an answer. She sounded…purposefully neutral. "She's very strong. I bet she can outlast anything anyone threw at her."

All at once, Sokka's chest felt like it'd been soaked in water. "Yeah," he said, his voice sounding small and damp and lost, even to his own ears.

Toph was right; Suki was probably making her Fire Nation captor's lives a misery and organizing a revolt with the other prisoners even as they spoke. He'd come charging in to rescue her and find her sitting on top a pile of unconscious guards, swinging the prison key around her finger and demanding to know what took him so long.

(It was a nice fantasy, but he couldn't hold on to it for long. He knew what Fire Nation prisons were like, had seen what happened to people trapped in them until their humanity bled away. And it wasn't just Suki anymore, but his father and his tribe and his friends --)

Toph slugged him in the arm hard enough to leave a bruise, knocking him out of the circle of dark thoughts.

"Ow! Hey, that –"

"I said she'll be fine!" she shouted, the rocks around their feet jumping in response to her sudden ire. Sokka backed up cautiously, both hands raised in a placating gesture. "Now stop worrying about it like a weepy little girl and get back to shopping!"

It belatedly occurred to him that she had been trying to make him feel better. "Toph—"

"I said SHOP!" She thrust an imperious finger at the nearest business and scowled; her foot tapping at the ground warningly. He obediently shuffled in that direction.

"Okay, okay!"

END